Thin polystyrene film coated on cotton was successfully formed by admicellar polymerization. Divinylbenzene (DVB) was used as a cross-linking agent to form networked polystyrene to improve film coverage. A wettability test and XPS analysis were used to characterize the coated Surface. The optimum amount of DVB was around 1%. At this amount, the film coverage was most complete, as judged by the reduction of the OIs signal in XPS analysis. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.